The State Organization Index provides an alphabetical listing of government organizations, including commissions, departments, and bureaus.

Mingus espoused collective improvisation, similar to the old New Orleans jazz parades, paying particular attention to how each band member interacted with the group as a whole. In creating his bands, he looked not only at the skills of the available musicians, but also their personalities. Many musicians passed through his bands and later went on to impressive careers. He recruited talented and sometimes little-known artists, whom he utilized to assemble unconventional instrumental configurations. As a performer, Mingus was a pioneer in double bass technique, widely recognized as one of the instrument's most proficient players.

Much of the cello technique he learned was applicable to double bass when he took up the instrument in high school. He studied for five years with Herman Reinshagen , principal bassist of the New York Philharmonic , and compositional techniques with Lloyd Reese. [13] Throughout much of his career, he played a bass made in 1927 by the German maker Ernst Heinrich Roth .